Section 3: Planning and Preliminary Engineering Considerations

Planning and Programming

Coordination with Local Entities: Local
public agency or entity agreements with city and county agencies
or a metropolitan planning organization (MPO) may often be developed
prior to the ISA for off-system or enhancement projects. These
agreements typically require local entities to be responsible for
the remediation of any identified hazardous material concerns.
These agreements should also delegate responsibilities for performing
and funding site assessments, additional investigation, permits,
site closure, preventive action, waste management, monitoring during construction
and post-construction monitoring.

The potential liability and estimated costs for additional
testing and analysis, site closure and/or waste management may create
a need for additional approvals and/or funding from the local entity or
MPO. If site assessments identify known or possible hazardous material
contamination, then additional and continued coordination will be
necessary between the district and the appropriate local entity.

Project Scheduling: Site assessments,
investigations, coordination and handling of hazardous material
contamination can increase the amount of time required to complete
environmental documentation, environmental clearances, right-of-way
acquisition and the PS&E. Additional time may be needed to
cost effectively handle hazardous material contamination, during
either the right-of-way acquisition process or construction.

Prior to development of transportation plans and project programming,
FHWA Interim Guidance strongly advises consulting
with regulatory agencies and reviewing regulatory lists of known
hazardous waste sites scheduled for cleanup. Whenever possible,
known or possible hazardous material contamination should be considered
prior to project scheduling. Involvement with hazardous material
contamination should also be considered when developing or changing
funding and letting schedules. Planning and programming staff should
be advised of potential concerns and warned that project scheduling
might be affected.

Disclosure and Right of Entry

Disclosure of the purposes of site assessments and investigations
for hazardous material contamination should be incorporated into
right-of-entry agreements. ENV developed right-of-entry guidance
including site assessments; this information is included in the
web document Hazardous Materials in Project Development: Purchase
of Service Specifications; ROW has developed right-of-entry guidance
for more intrusive investigations. Any right-of-entry agreements
required by the property owner other than the approved TxDOT form
agreements should be reviewed by TxDOT’s Office of General
Counsel.

Due to potential hazardous materials liability and enforcement
actions, right of entry may be denied or difficult to obtain from
property owners. Under the Texas Public Information Act, any TxDOT information,
assessment, file or environmental document must be available as
a public record unless a related lawsuit is pending. Information
may also be discussed with regulatory agencies during the early
stages of project development. Therefore, confidentiality regarding
any contamination found during site assessments and investigations
cannot be guaranteed or implied. Other options to address property
owner confidentiality concerns include allowing the property owner
to review draft reports or oral reports prior to the preparation
of final reports and separating recommendations from the assessment
or investigation report findings. These alternate options should
be considered on a case-by-case basis.

If a property owner denies access, then portions of the site
assessments and investigations may have to be postponed until right
of entry can be obtained in later stages of project development
during the right-of-way negotiation, acquisition or eminent domain
process.

Early Coordination with Property Owners/Regulatory Agencies

As stated in FHWA’s Interim Guidance, further investigation
and/or coordination may be necessary to confirm the presence or
absence of contamination and to determine the extent and severity, appropriate
methodology and preliminary costs of corrective or preventive action.
Sites under investigation, corrective action, enforcement, permit
plans and/or closure plans regulated by either EPA or TCEQ will
require early coordination to determine site status, obtain approval
for intrusive sampling and analysis plans, and determine design
considerations that might be needed during construction. Coordination
may occur with both the applicable regulatory agency(s) and the responsible
property owner or operator of the site.

When appropriate, assistance from appropriate state and federal
regulatory agencies should be sought to minimize involvement. Requests
for assistance or coordination with federal, state and local agencies
to assess the degree of contamination, scope of treatment and disposal
measures should also be considered, initiated and documented during
advanced planning and subsequent stages of project development.
Coordination with regulatory agencies, property owners or local agencies
may take place concurrently with project development.

Preliminary Design and Feasibility Studies

Early project planning should include conducting ISAs prior
to or in conjunction with the preliminary design and feasibility
study stages of project development. The potential for encountering hazardous
material contamination should be considered and incorporated into
the following:

design concept

preliminary design schematics

preliminary route location, feasibility and investment
studies

preliminary right-of-way requirements

preliminary utility requirements

preliminary hydraulic or storm sewer design

preliminary cost estimates.

Preliminary Design Concept Conference: The
information gathered from site assessments and investigations should
be discussed in design concept conference meetings for the project.
The Preliminary Design Concept Conference (PDCC) form, developed
by the TxDOT Task Force on Design Concepts, contains a section to
include pertinent hazardous material information. Districts should
contact DES for more information about the PDCC form.

Environmental Permits, Issues, and Commitments Sheets: An
Environmental Permits, Issues and Commitments (EPIC) Sheet was developed
by ENV to communicate information that should be considered in the
PS&E. The EPIC sheet contains a section to include pertinent
hazardous material information. Communicating EPIC information
has also been incorporated into the Environmental Tracking System
(ETS), also developed by ENV.

Preliminary Design Schematics and Right-of-Way Maps: If
not avoided, hazardous material contamination concerns will need
to be further addressed during later stages of project development.
Copies of the preliminary schematics should include references
to known or suspected hazardous material contamination or regulated
sites. Additional surveying of known or possible hazardous material
contamination concerns can be incorporated with either the preliminary
schematic or right-of-way maps. Whether surveyed or hand-drawn,
examples of possible concerns to note on preliminary schematics
or maps include, but are not limited to, monitoring or exploration wells,
contaminated fill, underground storage tanks, fill pipes, pump islands
and above-ground storage tanks.

Alternative Analysis and Selection

U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) and EPA initiatives
encouraging redevelopment of brownfields will likely support transportation-related
brownfield redevelopment and may result in increased involvement
with hazardous materials during construction. Due to the added
costs and liability risks associated with hazardous materials involvement,
known or possible hazardous material concerns should be integrated
into the project coordination, alignment alternative, corridor/route
selection and decision-making processes. The financial impact on
transportation funds or budgets should be considered in the alternative
analysis.

Experience and understanding of procedures in right-of-way
negotiation and acquisition, property management, design and construction
will be required in the decision-making process. Consideration
of other environmental issues, health and safety concerns, design
feasibility, liability and costs must also be part of the decision
to either avoid, minimize the involvement (redesign) or properly
handle the concern prior to or during construction. Preliminary
or required commitments should be identified or outlined during
advanced planning and the project decision-making process. As appropriate,
affected parties, local entities and affected district functional
areas must agree to commitments for further investigation, regulatory
agency coordination, approvals and permits, corrective action and
site closure, preventive action and/or waste management.

Appropriate investigation levels for ISAs of each alternative
should be comparable. In alternative analysis, known or possible
hazardous material sites should be compared qualitatively rather
than quantitatively. A comparison of the total number of regulated
or registered sites for each alternative is not sufficient, because
the costs and requirements for one type of regulated site or contamination
problem cannot be compared directly with those of a different type
of regulated site or contamination problem. However, similar sites
with the same types of contamination, priority and status, with
similar project involvement, could be compared.

As stated in the FHWA Interim Guidelines, a decision must
be made as to whether the costs and delays of contamination involvement
warrant the selection of an alternate route. Additional factors such
as other environmental issues and right-of-way, utility, construction
and maintenance costs should be considered. For example, engineering
design and utility considerations are associated with constructing
and maintaining a roadway built on a landfill. Those considerations
include increased construction and maintenance costs due to possible
bridge structures, post-closure requirements, health and safety
monitoring, methane collection and monitoring, leachate filtration/monitoring
systems and settling. Other factors include liability issues and
responsibilities for possible groundwater contamination. The feasibility
of avoiding the landfill entirely, minimizing involvement with minor
alignment changes or constructing a bridge over the landfill requires
evaluation of the costs and benefits.

Project Development Considerations

Geotechnical Soil Borings/Soil Core Hole Drilling
Considerations: If hazardous material contamination is
suspected, then any required soil core hole drilling for pavement,
retaining walls, bridges and other structures can be combined with
required environmental sampling and analysis to minimize costs.

Additional provisions or contingency language may be needed
in the scope of services or proposals for geotechnical soil boring/soil
core hole contracts on a project-specific basis if contaminated
soil and/or groundwater might be encountered. For example, special
considerations for health and safety monitoring, personal protective
equipment, proper handling and disposal of soil cuttings, alternative
drilling techniques to prevent migration and plugging may be required
for soil core hole drilling.

Right-of-Way Considerations: Regardless
of the potential for encountering contamination during construction,
special considerations for hazardous material concerns during the
right-of-way negotiation and acquisition process may be necessary.
Regulatory agency and property owner coordination may still be
required, depending upon the regulatory status of a site. For example, plugging
of groundwater monitoring or exploration wells may be required by
applicable regulations. Other concerns can include asbestos, underground
storage tank removal, permit status notifications and site closure.

Land use restrictions or post-closure care requirements may
be recorded in the deeds of parcels to be acquired. Corrective
action cases may need to be re-opened for sites or facilities due
to proposed land use changes. The terminology and requirements
for corrective action cases differ from those of a risk-based assessment
for a facility according to the federal or state regulatory status.
For example, requirements for a permitted landfill will differ
from those for a petroleum storage tank facility. Additional information
on asbestos-containing materials, petroleum storage tanks, leaking
petroleum storage tank facilities and other permitted or regulated
sites is provided in Chapter 3, Right of Way.

Utility or Pipeline Agreement and Adjustment Considerations:
Abandoned utilities or pipelines containing crude oil, polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCB) or asbestos-containing materials (ACM) may have
to be removed during construction. TxDOT utility installation notices,
joint use and standard utility agreements typically include general
statements about following applicable regulations. The responsibilities
for handling or disposing of hazardous materials must be determined.
On a case-by-case basis, specific hazardous material or spill reporting
requirements should be considered in the agreements. If unknown
or unanticipated contamination is encountered during utility maintenance,
adjustments or installation, the utility company should be required
by the agreement to notify the district so that possible involvement
during any proposed construction can be determined.

The potential for encountering contamination should be addressed
early in project development to prevent or minimize delays in completing
utility adjustments. Adjustments to utilities or pipelines that
involve hazardous materials may impact construction projects. A
district may decide that a particular project requires joint bids
with the municipalities to handle utility adjustments during construction.
Whether the utilities are adjusted prior to or during construction,
the extra time needed to arrange for special handling of contamination
may delay construction or impact construction scheduling. For example,
installation or adjustment of telephone fiber optic cable within contaminated
soil may require special protection, such as trench lining and/or
soil disposal.

Hydraulic and Storm Sewer Design Considerations: If
handled improperly, de-watering and storm sewer installation in
contaminated soil or groundwater are at the greatest risk of worker exposure
and further releases into the environment. If unanticipated contamination
is encountered and special provisions or arrangements have not been
made, then construction delays and/or contractor disputes or claims
are likely. Areas needing significant excavation, trenching, tunneling and/or
de-watering typically require more assessment and/or further investigation
to determine if contamination will be encountered during construction.
If de-watering of contaminated groundwater is necessary, then specialty
contractors, engineering controls, monitoring and testing, temporary collection,
filtration, approval from regulatory agencies and/or discharge permits
may be required.

Design Changes and Re-Evaluations: The
following steps should be performed for design changes and re-evaluations:

Review documentation for original
and/or subsequent ISA(s). If an ISA has not already been performed,
one is required for the portions of the project that have not already
been constructed.

Review documentation for any investigations performed
after the original environmental documentation, such as investigations
to confirm the presence of, determine the extent of or determine
proper handling requirements for contamination.

Determine if any changes, new information or circumstances
require further assessment, research or investigation. Re-evaluate
the original ISA to determine if assumptions based on preliminary
design or right-of-way requirements are still valid.

Plans, Specifications and Estimates (PS&E) Considerations: If
site remediation cannot meet regulatory closure requirements prior
to construction or during the right-of-way acquisition process,
then monitoring of remediation systems and their access may need
to be integrated into the design of the proposed project. Coordination
with regulatory agencies and the property owner/responsible parties
may be necessary to ensure that the roadway construction does not
adversely affect remediation, site closure and/or post-closure care
of the site.

The management and disposal of contaminated soil, groundwater
and waste must be conducted in accordance with applicable federal
and state requirements and in a manner that will not adversely affect
human health and/or the environment. A preventive action plan is
similar to AASHTO's terminology for a Hazardous Waste Management
Plan. If a hazardous material concern cannot be avoided prior to
construction, a preventive action plan will serve to reduce the
impact of contamination encountered during construction. A preventive
action plan may include, but is not limited to, the following:

construction phasing

health and safety plans or considerations

waste management reuse or disposal options

permitting requirements

monitoring

sampling and analysis plans

specifications for engineering controls

filtration systems

ventilation systems.

Special specifications, provisions or contingencies can be
incorporated into the PS&E to reduce the potential for construction
delays, claims, forced accounts or field change orders. Employed
by the local entity, TxDOT or the prime highway contractor, specialty
contractors or subcontractors can be used to implement the preventive
action plan during construction. Incorporating special specifications,
provisions or considerations into the development of the PS&E
is further discussed in Chapter 4, Design.

Property Management or Maintenance Considerations: If
a site cannot meet regulatory closure requirements prior to construction
or during the right-of-way acquisition process, then closure may need
to be obtained after project construction. Additionally, a site
may have post-closure requirements for maintaining vegetation, caps
or drainage after construction. Any post-closure responsibility
must be communicated to the district maintenance staff.

Project Files

District and division project files are consulted at various
stages of project development. A completed copy of the ISA checklist
or report should be kept in the district project files. Due to possible
cost recovery and right-of-way documentation requirements, incorporating
or developing central hazardous material files or electronic databases
for tracking information by project and/or parcel should be considered.

Supplemental documentation should be organized and catalogued
in the project files. Supplemental documentation includes, but
is not limited to, the following: